RF c01s01
Text "Demons, demons, demons... demonic artifacts, demonic... baubles... ah, here we are, demonic contracts..." mumbled the orange unicorn, smiling to himself before he settled comfortably back under the tree, not caring in the slightest that he was wrinkling up the expensive silk garments covering his body, almost hiding his cutie mark of a scroll. He rose the book in front of himself, bright red eyes roving back and forth over the text, long and messy crimson mane half-falling over his face as he happily shut out the world around him. That was, until he heard hoofsteps approaching across the courtyard, and the orange stallion slowly looked up from his book, expression turning sour as a voice called mockingly: "Oh look, Ardent Desire has his face buried in fairy tales again!" "Oh shut up, Shieldhoof, you're just jealous that I can read." retorted the orange stallion as he snapped the heavy tome closed and hugged it protectively against his chest. He glowered up at the quartet of other stallions, as they all grinned down at him, led by an enormous unicorn with a flowing golden mane, baby blue eyes, and a perfectly-toned ivory body that looked like it was sculpted from marble. "Why don't you go back to beating up small foals?" "Like you?" the statuesque unicorn leaned down with a wide grin, and Ardent Desire winced despite himself before Shieldhoof laughed and straightened, tossing his mane and looking down at the orange unicorn with entertainment. "Don't worry, Ardent, you're not worth my time. No, I merely came to see just what little fantasies you were exploring today. Oh, fairies? Magical alicorns who are supposed to save us all? Or Kelpies again?" "Kelpies exist!" Ardent Desire snapped, and Shieldhoof and his friends laughed, the orange unicorn blushing even as he continued defensively: "Down by the river, I've seen them myself! And there are all kinds of records and stories and prophecies-" "Anyone can make up a story." Shieldhoof scoffed, then he shook his head and said kindly: "Look, Ardent. I'm trying to do you a service here. All these musty books and foal's fables that you believe in... you wonder why you can't find a single mare willing to so much as look sideways at you, and it's because of this. I hear even the slaves don't respect your eccentricities, Ardent, and that's just sad. One would think that at the very least you'd be able to control your own servants, even if poor little Ardent couldn't even compel a slave hoof into bed with him." That got another round of laughter, and Ardent Desire glared up at the larger unicorn as he stumbled to his hooves: and as often happened, his mouth got the better of his brain, and he snapped before he could stop himself: "Well I suppose that unlike you, Shieldhoof, I don't particularly enjoy the thought of abusing helpless mares." Shieldhoof favored Ardent Desire with an ill look, then he reached up and pushed a hoof against the orange pony's face, shoving him backwards and making the smaller stallion wince. "As if I need to sink so low as to sully myself with a slave. I have plenty of more-than-willing mares of the most elite class very eager to indulge whatever I desire... but you should know, Ardent Desire, why, I have bedded both your younger sisters." Ardent Desire looked sourly at Shieldhoof, as Shieldhoof smiled mockingly back, and then the orange unicorn said grumpily before he could stop himself: "And I heard that you took up sleeping with your mother, too, since your father doesn't anymore. Or can't." "Why you foul-mouthed little-" Shieldhoof leapt forwards, and Ardent Desire hurriedly skittered backwards, almost tripping over his book as he dropped it. The enormous white unicorn simply slapped this aside, snarling as he chased Ardent Desire around the tree, while his unicorn friends were content to sit back, laugh, and enjoy the show. "If your father wasn't a Baron, I'd cut you in twain, Ardent! Stay still, answer me for this insult!" "I'd rather not!" Ardent Desire called over his shoulder hurriedly, and then he tried to scamper away from the tree... only to end up being caught by two of the other unicorns when they decided to intervene. He was caught by either foreleg and slung down on his back, the orange unicorn wincing as Shieldhoof loomed over him and glared furiously, and Ardent Desire grinned lamely as he asked: "Can't we just... you know... say that you said some things, I said some things, oh, we both regret it now and we should just... move on?" "I challenge you on the field of honor, Ardent Desire! Horn foiling: the loser is the first to bleed or submit." Shieldhoof said sharply, and Ardent Desire winced a bit. "Your noble blood compels you answer this call to fight!" "Actually, my noble blood wishes very much to stay in my noble body." Ardent Desire said mildly, and then he sighed tiredly when Shieldhoof stepped back and the trio of other unicorns all glared at him pointedly, the orange stallion mumbling as he rolled onto his stomach, carefully pushed himself up... then gave a series of badly-faked exclamations, holding up a front hoof. "Oh, ow, ow, hey, wait, I think I sprained something. Oh, darn, the rules state that in event of injury-" Shieldhoof's front hoof smashed across Ardent Desire's face, knocking him staggering as blood flew from his nose, and Ardent yelled in pain and shock as he grabbed at his features. He glared furiously up at the larger unicorn, but Shieldhoof only grinned, saying mildly: "Looks like your hoof is working just fine to me, Ardent Desire." The orange unicorn stared, then opened his mouth, but in a moment Shieldhoof had leapt towards him, slashing his horn down across the orange stallion's face and tearing a shallow wound over his scalp before a hoof smashed down into his cheek and knocked him to the ground. And then all Ardent Desire could do was cover his head and try not to cry as Shieldhoof slammed blow after blow down into his head and shoulders. Ardent Desire was saved by a loud call, but when the orange, bloody and bruised unicorn looked up with his teary eyes, he found himself immediately wishing miserably that Shieldhoof had just killed him even as the ivory unicorn stepped backwards and bowed his head politely. Two other unicorns were approaching, both much older: one had a long, gray beard and a mane of the same color, his coat a ghostly white and mostly hidden by a long cloak... the other was large and crimson, dressed in heavy silver plate mail and with a golden mane cut into a short mohawk. The latter looked down in distaste at Ardent Desire as he carefully dragged himself to his hooves, glancing over him with a look of contempt in his eyes... and what hurt more, shame. Ardent Desire kept his eyes down, trying not to look up into the aureate irises of the large stallion, before the crimson unicorn simply glanced towards Shieldhoof and asked calmly: "Don't you have a better use of your time, Shieldhoof?" "I... sorry, sir. But I had no choice but to respond to your son, he started it." Shieldhoof said quickly, and Ardent Desire looked up, opening his mouth... and then clenching his jaw when the crimson unicorn didn't even look up, only held up a hoof as he met Shieldhoof's gaze with his own. "I was just. Defending my family's honor, sir." "Shieldhoof, apologize to the Baron." ordered the elderly ivory unicorn, and Shieldhoof dropped his head quickly as the aging male added: "And I apologize on my son's behalf as well, Lord Bonfire, we know that your son is-" "There is no need to apologize and no need to make excuses for Ardent Desire." the crimson unicorn replied calmly, and then he looked moodily towards the orange unicorn, who shrank a bit under his father's cold gaze. "Go inside." Ardent Desire nodded and looked down with a mumble, turning and striding towards the doors leading out of the courtyard and into the keep: before he could reach them, however, his father's voice called to him, and Ardent Desire turned around just in time for the book he'd been reading to hit him squarely in the face, almost knocking him over as he stumbled backwards and Lord Bonfire added irritably: "And stop taking these nonsense books out of the library!" "Yes, father." Ardent Desire mumbled, lifting the book with telekinesis and trembling a little as he turned around, then hurried towards the open doors as fast as he could walk. He knew better than to run, even if he was burning with humiliation that far, far outweighed the pain of his bludgeoned and bloodied features. Running would just get him scolded like a foal again later, and give Shieldhoof and his cronies more things to laugh about. But once Ardent Desire was inside the stone halls of the sprawling keep and around the corner, then he ran: he sprinted past slaves and servants and soldiers, all of whom were all so used to this by now they barely noticed. He ran all the way to the old quarters of the building, where his room sat near the library, the slave housing, and all the other parts of the building that his father considered 'necessary evils.' The orange unicorn tore through the door and slammed it behind him, stumbling into his large room and over to the bed to fling himself onto it, book falling from his telekinetic grasp. He buried his bloody face into a pillow and screamed almost silently into it, then simply lay there, trembling, as trails of tears leaked from his eyes. After a few minutes, he got himself under control enough to sit up on his plush bed and sigh a little, looking silently up at the painting of his mother on the wall above his bed. She smiled down at him, a beautiful emerald unicorn with the softest, most vibrant eyes he had ever seen even in a painting... eyes he only vaguely remembered looking up into as a foal, as he reached out and silently straightened the framed image. Then he shook his head slowly before looking miserably around the room: shelves full of parchment and books near a table where he did a lot of his reading and writing, a sword hanging on one wall with a shield that was gathering rust and dust, a large chest that contained some of his valuables and an enormous fireplace. The orange unicorn's eyes roved towards the mostly-empty tinderbox nearby, and he sighed before slipping out of bed, mumbling: "Oh fine." The servants were supposed to take care of tasks like this: the slave hoofs, who didn't have neither horn nor wings. They had ten slaves, who all had lodgings in the servant's barracks along with the two foals that were too young to work. But while the servants were utterly terrified of his father, the Baron Amadeus Bonfire, they all-but-ignored Ardent Desire, and the orange unicorn didn't have the heart to complain about it. After all, if Lord Bonfire found out that the servants skimped their duties or ignored him, Ardent Desire would find himself punished, and the slaves would probably all end up being publicly whipped. Ardent Desire mumbled as he left his room, heading down the hall quietly to one of the storage rooms and shoving it open: it was filled with cut logs, tinder, coal, and a few barrels of lantern oil. The orange unicorn helped himself to a load of tinder and logs, then left and sulked his way back to his room to drop most of the load in the box and toss the rest into the fireplace. He concentrated for a moment, his horn glowing before he flicked it to send a spark of flame bursting over the logs, spreading rapidly into a cheery fire. Well, it looked cheery, anyway, and the warmth was nice as Ardent Desire sat back and sighed a little. He rubbed at his bruised features, then closed his eyes with a mumble as he felt around until he managed to grab the book from where it had fallen and hug it up against his chest. For a few moments, there was silence... and then the door banged loudly open, and Ardent Desire almost fell over before he winced at the sight of the Baron, his father, standing in the doorway. The large crimson unicorn scowled down at him, and Ardent Desire shrank a bit before Lord Bonfire asked icily: "Were you trying to cause a rift between our house and Sir Windsong's? Or was this another 'accident,' Ardent Desire?" "He... he started it, Dad! I was just reading, minding my own business-" Ardent Desire started hurriedly, and then he winced when Lord Bonfire's eyes flicked to the fireplace before narrowing. "And you're wasting firewood again. Ridiculous, it's only autumn, not winter." Lord Bonfire's horn glowed, and a moment later, the flames in the fireplace burst upwards and vanished, the welcome heat disappearing with the fire. "When are you going to learn you are no longer a foal? When are you going to become serious in your studies?" "I am serious! I can read and write, I... I went to school, I have a scholarship! You heard for yourself, Abbot Clearwater offered me a job!" Ardent Desire said pleadingly, looking up at his father with desperation for some kind of acknowledgment, validation, anything. "Come on, Dad, just listen-" "Your three sisters are all adults. One even became a shieldmaiden, you know what a rare honor that is." Lord Bonfire continued coldly, as if he hadn't even heard his son's pleas. "Your other two sisters are younger than you and yet all the same honor the family name. One is to be married in the spring, the other is to be trained as a diplomat. And what about you, Ardent Desire? My only son, my supposed heir. You are nothing but a child still, burying his head all day in... in nonsense books!" Lord Bonfire's eyes narrowed, then his horn glowed brightly, and the book Ardent Desire was clinging to was yanked out of his hooves before it glowed brightly, then burst into flames. It burned so hot and bright that it was like a miniature star, the orange unicorn yelping and falling backwards in shock: but in moments it was over, and the book was nothing but ashes that scattered to the ground. The orange unicorn trembled, looking up weakly before Lord Bonfire said quietly: "In a few days you will resume learning to horn foil. You will train until you are on par with Shieldhoof, who has graciously agreed to spar with you once every week, for an hour. And yes, Ardent Desire, you spend that entire hour on your hooves, showing a little backbone and effort. For every minute you spend crying or puling or on your back, I will have you lashed ten times, do I make myself clear?" "Yes, father." Ardent Desire whispered, looking down and closing his eyes tightly as he trembled, and Lord Bonfire shook his head slowly and contemptibly. "When I was your age, I was already a veteran during the war. I was much more concerned with real-world problems, than I was with fairy tales like... demons and ghosts." Lord Bonfire replied coldly, shaking his head in slow disgust. "And I am still more concerned with the real world than I am with your nonsense. "When I return from my meeting with the other Barons, we will begin your training, and you will not disappoint me." Lord Bonfire said calmly, straightening and shaking his head slowly. "Until then, Morning Glory is in charge of the keep, and you will answer to her as you would answer to me, is this understood?" "Yes, father." Ardent Desire mumbled, humiliation burning in his cheeks: he was the eldest son, and yet even with how unusual it was, Lord Bonfire always put his second-born daughter in charge when he was gone: but all throughout the barony, Morning Glory was toted as Lord Bonfire's pride and joy, while Ardent Desire, on the other hoof... For a few moments, Lord Bonfire looked down at him, and Ardent Desire finally opened his eyes and dared to look back up, but all he saw as contempt and shame and disappointment. It hurt. It hurt worse than the bruises on his face, the cut on his scalp that was still oozing blood, or the fact his whole life was nothing but failure after failure... Lord Bonfire grunted, then turned and strode out, leaving Ardent Desire to sit silently for a few minutes before he looked down miserably at the pile of ashes on the floor that had once been a book. He reached out and scuffed at them, spreading smears of gray over the floor, before he finally forced himself to his hooves and headed to the door. He breathed slowly in and out, taking a moment, waiting until he knew that his father was gone, and then he pushed the door open and turned down the hall... and almost ran right into a slender, tall unicorn mare with a golden mane and pale pink body. They looked at each other for a few moments as Ardent Desire automatically shrank back a bit, and then the mare leaned down and grinned widely, asking contritely: "Coming to beg for mercy, little brother?" "Yes, Morning Glory, that's precisely what I was about to do." Ardent Desire mumbled, looking awkwardly up over his sister as he swallowed a little. Morning Glory scared him more than his father did: her eyes were ruthless, and her cutie mark was of the sun just coming over the horizon. Her special talent was manipulating light magic, a power she used to devastating effect in combat. She didn't care about much of anything apart from earning daddy's favor and beating the crap out of whatever was unlucky enough to get in her way. One of her favorite hobbies was picking on her big brother, Ardent, and making him look like even more of a failure than he already was: Morning Glory had big goals, after all. Among others was her dream to take her father's place when he was ready to pass down the barony, and become the first mare to assume the title of Baroness. For the moment, however, she seemed to be in a good mood, so Ardent Desire only carefully skittered out of the way, and Morning Glory looked pleased with this before she tossed her mane and said mildly: "I'm having guests over for dinner tonight, and I'd like to make a good impression. Stay in your room and I'll have one of the servants bring you your meal. And if you keep nice and quiet, I won't tell Daddy about the whores." Ardent Desire flushed deep red, then he only nodded, knowing it would be useless to deny anything, and this seemed to please Morning Glory further as she laughed loudly, then smiled and strode past, calling over her shoulder: "You wouldn't have to pay for sex if you weren't so determined to be such a freak, brother. Daddy might even like you better if you would just do what you were supposed to do." The orange unicorn didn't respond, only looking away, humiliated, and he skittered quickly down the hall. He tried not to think about it, but now the memory was coming back: the smell of sweat and staleness and bodies, moaning, the feeling of... flesh, soft and rubbery. The slave hoof whore had looked better with her clothes on than with them off, but it was humiliating to still be a virgin at his age, and when she'd sprawled back on the bed, he'd... he'd... It had been less than a minute, and over. Ten bits paid. She called him 'cute' in a mocking way and he'd hurried out of the brothel and out of the village still reeking of the place and his shame. He'd bathed in a nearby river and that hadn't done anything but made him feel wet, and even now he still smelled her, but it had helped him understand there were worse things than being a virgin. He was so distracted that he went right past the servant's quarters, past the closet where the cleaning supplies were kept, and his hooves found their way to the library. He shoved himself through the doors and into this room that smelled of books and was like a comforting womb, where he was safe and secure and surrounded by the tight walls of shelves and books and paper. Ardent Desire breathed slowly in and out, looking back and forth, feeling... comforted, like he always did, and he closed his eyes as the faintest scent of lavender touched his nose, and blurry memories came to mind. Of his mother reading to him, and holding him, and how everything had used to been before she had passed away. He touched his forehead, then shook himself out before sighing, his eyes lingering along the shelves. His mother had told him all sorts of stories when he was younger, and the stallion quietly strode towards a set of shelves near the back of the room. He looked back and forth carefully, then reached up and grasped what looked like a warp in the wooden shelving before grunting and tugging on it firmly, and a small section of shelving swung open as he murmured: "And Mom only ever showed me where all the good books were. She trusted me with them... she trusted me more than she trusted anypony else. She loved me more than she loved anypony else..." He shivered a little, and he saw his mother's smile, his mother's eyes, heard her voice as she explained kindly: Demons aren't all evil, Ardent Desire. Just like you and me, they can choose to be who they want to be... your mother was rescued by a demon when she was very young, you know... "And that's why Mom collected all this..." Ardent Desire murmured, looking back and forth as he entered the small room hidden by the shelves: a room filled with more books, all of them much older, tomes that detailed both stories of both great good and terrible evil about the supernatural. Stories that Ardent Desire firmly believed in, as he traced his hoof over several of the books and smiled to himself. "I wish I knew where Mom found all these." He quieted, then shook his head and sighed as he turned to face the back shelves. Parts of the collection were missing: destroyed by Lord Bonfire or Morning Glory, for the most part. Other books simply seemed to vanish on occasion, and Ardent Desire quietly paged through the shelves before he finally grasped a heavy, leather-bound tome to read. It would calm him down and keep him entertained, he thought, as he pulled it free... and then he dropped the book and stumbled backwards in surprise as a second, much-smaller notebook fell out from behind the tome. Ardent Desire picked the notebook up and examined it curiously: it was badly bent and a little beaten up, some of the shoved-together parchment torn and the stitched-together spine coming undone. The orange pony tilted it back and forth, then he finally shrugged a little and opened it before frowning at the ink-splotched pages, muttering: "Who wrote this..." Then his eyes widened slightly as he flipped to the middle of the book and found not just notes, or smudged writing, but what he recognized as a diagram for some kind of ritual. He leaned down intently, and he realized after a few moments... it was a summoning ritual. He couldn't entirely make out the words, but the diagram of what was required, it was all very clear... Ardent Desire looked back and forth, then he quickly turned and hurried out of the secret room, flicking his horn to slam the hidden door shut behind him, not caring that several books were rattled out of place. He hurried across the library as he breathed harder, his eyes bright: his mother had told him all kinds of stories about demons being called upon, said that they could be convinced to do favors or make deals with mortals... said that there were even some demons who would help ponies of their own volition. All his life, Ardent Desire had looked for demonic magic: he had even tried to develop some on his own, but he had never been able to contact demons, never glimpsed more than a Kelpie in the river nearby. He had studied up and down rituals, summoning circles, everything that could be related to demons by even the wildest leap of imagination, but he had never seen anything concrete, never found anything like this... It could be what he'd been looking for, the answer to all his problems, a way for him to finally prove that he wasn't just some lazy failure. To become more than a disappointment, to get all the things that had been denied him his entire life. And with these thoughts in mind, Ardent Desire hurried back to his room to eagerly begin reading, forgetting all the warnings and cautionary tales his mother had told him alongside the good and happy stories, forgetting that what demon loved to punish most was hubris and good intentions. Top ↑ Category:Transcript Category:Story